CAPTAIN CALLS FOR CONSISTENCY

Town Captain Peter Clarke believes the Terriers need to improve their consistency if they want to build upon last season’s 19th placed finish.

Three wins in the final five games of the season helped secure Town’s place in the Championship last season after the Terriers had gone 12 games without a win over the Christmas period.

“There is room for improvement,” Peter told htafc.com. “We need to find a better level of consistency in our performances. Also, when we lost last season, we lost very heavily on occasions. That impacted on our goal difference, which could have proven costly. We need to have a better mind-set in games when we go behind and believe that all is not lost.”

Helping Town’s cause for consistency could be the possible reduction in midweek games with the league fixtures starting two weeks earlier than last season, on August 3.

“It is a wise decision by the Football League. Hopefully it will mean that we aren’t playing as many midweek games. From a players point of view it allows better recovery from one game to another and allows for better preparation. Also, we will be able to get a good week’s preparation to do plenty of work on the opposition. I am sure the decision has also been made with the fans in mind. Travelling to games during the week can be difficult and does make for lower attendances. More games on a Saturday will be better for both the fans and the clubs.”

Pre-season starts in around two weeks for the majority of clubs and Clarke has been surprised by the lack of transfer activity throughout the leagues to date.

“I thought that there would have been more by this time,” he said. “I suppose players leaving on free transfers won’t leave clubs until the end of June, which may be one of the reasons why it has been a little bit slow and quiet. On the flip side, players who require a transfer fee will have clubs negotiating over them to try and get the best deals.

“I am sure that in the not too distance future things will hot up a little bit and we will see plenty of player movement.”

Like both Oliver Norwood and Alex Smithies who have spoken to htafc.com over the past week, Peter’s mind is back on football and building up towards pre-season.

“As much as I perhaps try to switch off from football, I can’t. It is in my blood. I am interested to see what is going on, what is happening in the games that are taking place and if there has been any player movement.

“However, it has been the first time in four years that we haven’t had an extended season as such, which has been nice. I enjoyed some rest after the season on the holiday with the family, but I am now getting back into the swing of things ready for pre-season.”